New Delhi, Jan. 27 -- As YouTube increasingly pushes long-form, creator-led content and Shorts amid the growing penetration of connected television sets, Indian music labels-long reliant on the platform as a core digital revenue engine-are seeing advertising income come under pressure.

YouTube income for labels based on advertising has dropped by 20-30%, particularly when film soundtracks fail to break out or movies do not garner organic traction, industry executives said. This has been evident in the case of several films recently with the exception of action hit Dhurandhar whose soundtrack found instant draw across platforms. At the same time, short-form content, especially Shorts, has emerged as a key focus as viewing behaviour shifts...